“From the Cofán, he [Schultes] learned, disease is cause by magic arrows cast into the victim’s flesh by the avenging souls of malevolent sorcerers. Thus, in a manner that made perfect sense to the shaman, Schultes moved from the study of curare [arrow poison] to an examination of the art of healing, which led him inevitably to yagé [a plant hallucinogen].”
—Wade Davis, One River
Credit: By Richard Evans Schultes
Date: Conejo, Río Sucumbíos, April 1942
During the rainy season, Schultes would investigate the flooded forests in an aluminum canoe. The same week that this photograph was taken, he succumbed to beriberi, an ailment caused by vitamin B1 deficiency. During his many years in the Amazon, he had malaria 27 times.
Credit: By Richard Evans Schultes
Date: Río Guainia, 1948
Schultes thoroughly explored the Macarena, an isolated mountain that soars above the Llanos, the great plains of eastern Colombia. Thanks in part to Schultes research, the Macarena is today a national park, one of the world’s greatest concentrations of biodiversity.
Credit: By Richard Evans Schultes
Date: Serrania de la Macarena, January 1951
